{"schema_version":"1.0","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852993","patent":{"patent_number":"US-9852993","title":"Lateral high voltage integrated devices having trench insulation field plates and metal field plates","assignee":null,"inventors":[],"filing_date":"2016-02-05T00:00:00.000Z","publication_date":"2017-12-26T00:00:00.000Z","cpc_codes":["H01L"],"num_claims":21,"abstract":"A high voltage integrated device includes a source region and a drain region disposed in a semiconductor layer and spaced apart from each other, a drift region disposed in the semiconductor layer and surrounding the drain region, a channel region defined in the semiconductor layer and between the source region and the drift region, a trench insulation field plate disposed in the drift region, a recessed region provided in the trench isolation field plate, a metal field plate disposed over the trench insulation field plate, and filling the recessed region, a gate insulation layer provided over the channel region and extending over the drift region and over the trench insulation field plate, and a gate electrode disposed over the gate insulation layer."},"analysis":{"summary":"The patent, titled \"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates,\" introduces a significant advancement in the field of power semiconductor devices. Its core innovation lies in a novel architecture for high voltage integrated circuits that dramatically improves breakdown voltage and reliability while maintaining a compact footprint.\n\nThe primary problem this invention solves is the inherent trade-off between achieving high voltage handling capability and minimizing the physical size and complexity of integrated devices. Traditional high-voltage (HV) designs often suffer from electric field crowding, leading to premature breakdown, or require extensive chip area, hindering integration with low-voltage control logic.\n\nThe key technical approach involves a sophisticated dual-field plate strategy. The device incorporates a source region, a drain region, a drift region, and a channel region. Crucially, a trench insulation field plate is strategically disposed within the drift region. A recessed region is provided in this trench insulation field plate, which is then filled by a metal field plate. This synergistic combination of embedded trench insulation and overlying metal field plates effectively redistributes and mitigates high electric field concentrations, ensuring a more uniform potential distribution across the drift region. A gate insulation layer and a gate electrode further extend over the channel and drift regions, completing the device structure.\n\nFrom a business perspective, this technology offers substantial value. It enables the creation of smaller, more energy-efficient, and highly reliable power management integrated circuits. Applications span critical sectors such as electric vehicles, industrial automation, renewable energy systems, and advanced consumer electronics (e.g., fast chargers, display drivers). The enhanced integration capability allows manufacturers to develop system-on-chip solutions, reducing bill-of-materials, improving performance, and accelerating time-to-market.\n\nThe market opportunity for this innovation is significant. As demand for power efficiency and miniaturization continues to grow across industries, devices capable of robust high-voltage operation on a single chip are highly sought after. This patent positions its implementers at the forefront of power semiconductor design, enabling them to capture market share by offering superior, integrated solutions.","layman_explanation":"### What Problem Does This Solve?\n\nImagine you're trying to build a powerful electric device, like a super-efficient car charger or the brain of an electric vehicle. These devices need to handle a lot of electrical 'pressure' – what engineers call 'high voltage.' The big challenge is making these powerful components small and reliable. Think of it like trying to run a very strong current through a tiny wire; it heats up, becomes inefficient, and can even melt. Similarly, in microchips, when you try to miniaturize parts that handle high voltage, the electrical pressure gets concentrated in small areas, leading to 'breakdown' – essentially, the chip failing or burning out. Existing solutions often involve making the chips bigger, which defeats the purpose of miniaturization, or using complex, expensive manufacturing techniques.\n\n### How Does It Work?\n\nThis patent, known as Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates, introduces a clever way to solve this. Picture a tiny, miniature highway for electricity inside a microchip. This highway has special 'traffic controllers' to manage the flow of high voltage. The invention places two types of these controllers strategically. First, there's a 'trench insulation field plate' – imagine a small, insulated ditch dug into the side of the highway. This ditch helps to gently guide and spread out the electrical pressure deep within the chip, preventing it from building up in one spot. Second, right above this ditch, a 'metal field plate' is installed. This is like a small metal road sign or barrier that further directs the electrical pressure at the surface of the chip. By combining these two 'traffic controllers,' the invention ensures that the high voltage is smoothly distributed across a wider area, much like widening a highway to prevent traffic jams. This allows the chip to handle much higher electrical pressure without breaking down, all while staying incredibly compact.\n\n### Why Does This Matter?\n\nThis innovation matters because it unlocks new possibilities for electronics across many industries. For businesses, it means being able to develop products that are smaller, more powerful, and significantly more reliable. For example, in the electric vehicle market, this technology could lead to smaller, lighter, and more efficient power converters, extending battery range and reducing vehicle weight. In industrial automation, it could enable more robust and compact motor drivers and power supplies for robotics and smart factories. For consumer electronics, think of phone chargers that are not only faster but also tiny and run cooler. This patent provides a competitive edge by allowing manufacturers to integrate high-voltage capabilities with standard low-voltage control circuits on a single, cost-effective chip. This leads to reduced manufacturing costs, faster product development, and ultimately, higher profitability and market leadership.\n\n### What's Next?\n\nThe Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates patent sets the stage for a new generation of 'smart power' integrated circuits. We can expect to see this technology adopted in diverse applications requiring high power density and reliability, from advanced medical devices to aerospace systems. Its compatibility with existing manufacturing processes means it can be scaled relatively quickly. For investors, this signals opportunities in companies specializing in power semiconductors or those integrating this technology into their next-generation products, promising significant returns as the demand for efficient and compact power solutions continues to surge globally.","technical_analysis":"The patent, titled \"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates\" (US-9852993), details a sophisticated semiconductor architecture designed to enhance the breakdown voltage (BV) and reliability of lateral high-voltage (HV) integrated devices. This innovation addresses critical challenges associated with electric field management in power integrated circuits, particularly the problem of electric field crowding at critical junctions and surfaces.\n\n**Technical Architecture and Device Structure:**\n\nThe device is fundamentally a lateral power MOSFET or similar structure, comprising a source region and a drain region, both diffused into a semiconductor layer (e.g., silicon). These regions are spaced apart, defining a channel region between the source and a drift region. The drift region extends from the channel towards the drain, surrounding it, and is crucial for sustaining high voltages. The unique aspects of this invention lie in the strategic integration of two types of field plates:\n\n1.  **Trench Insulation Field Plate (TIFP):** This is a key structural element embedded within the drift region. It is typically formed by etching a trench into the semiconductor and filling it with a dielectric material (like silicon dioxide) and then a conductive material (e.g., polysilicon). The TIFP's primary function is to modulate the electric field within the bulk of the semiconductor. By extending the depletion region deeper into the drift region, it effectively increases the electrical path length over which the high voltage potential is dropped, thereby reducing the peak electric field strength and enhancing the bulk breakdown voltage.\n2.  **Metal Field Plate (MFP):** This plate is positioned over the trench insulation field plate. A crucial detail is the provision of a recessed region within the TIFP, which the MFP fills. This precise placement allows the MFP to control the electric field distribution at the semiconductor surface. Surface electric field crowding is a common failure mechanism, often leading to premature breakdown. The MFP, typically connected to a specific potential (e.g., source, drain, or an optimized potential), shapes the equipotential lines at the surface, preventing high surface field concentrations and improving the overall surface breakdown voltage.\n\nCompleting the structure are a gate insulation layer (e.g., SiO2) provided over the channel region, extending over the drift region and over the trench insulation field plate, and a gate electrode disposed over this gate insulation layer. This gate structure controls the formation of the inversion channel, enabling the device's switching functionality.\n\n**Implementation Details and Electric Field Management:**\n\nThe synergistic operation of the TIFP and MFP is central to the device's performance. The TIFP effectively extends the depletion region into the drift area, distributing the voltage drop over a larger volume of semiconductor. This 'volume effect' is crucial for increasing the bulk breakdown voltage. Simultaneously, the MFP, situated in a recess over the TIFP, manages the surface electric fields. By carefully designing the geometry and potential of the MFP, surface field crowding, which can lead to hot carrier degradation or surface breakdown, is minimized. This combined approach ensures robust electric field termination, leading to a higher overall BV for a given drift length.\n\nThe lateral nature of this device makes it highly compatible with standard CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) processes. This is vital for monolithic integration, allowing high-voltage power components to be fabricated alongside low-voltage control logic on a single die. This integration reduces parasitic capacitances and inductances, improves switching speed, and leads to more compact and efficient power management integrated circuits.\n\n**Performance Characteristics and Integration Patterns:**\n\nThis device is expected to exhibit superior breakdown voltage characteristics compared to prior art devices lacking this dual-field plate optimization. The reduced electric field crowding translates to enhanced reliability and a wider safe operating area. Furthermore, the optimized use of silicon area due to more efficient voltage handling allows for smaller device footprints, which is critical for high-density power ICs. The ability to integrate this HV device with standard CMOS logic simplifies system design, reduces component count, and lowers manufacturing costs. It enables the creation of 'smart power' ICs that combine power delivery and complex control functions on a single chip, driving innovation in power management units (PMUs), motor drivers, and power converters.\n\n**Code-level Implications (Analogous):**\n\nWhile this patent describes a hardware device, the implications for software and system architects are significant. The improved performance and integration capability of such devices mean that software controlling these power ICs can operate with greater confidence in the underlying hardware's robustness. For instance, in embedded systems requiring precise power control, the enhanced reliability of the power stage (due to this patent) would reduce the need for complex software-level error detection and correction mechanisms related to power supply issues. It enables simpler, more efficient control algorithms for power conversion, as the hardware itself is more resilient. Designers can push operating parameters closer to theoretical limits, leveraging the device's inherent stability.","business_analysis":"The patent, \"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates,\" represents a significant business opportunity within the rapidly expanding power electronics market. This innovation directly addresses critical industry needs for enhanced integration, efficiency, and reliability in high-voltage semiconductor devices, positioning its adopters for substantial competitive advantage and revenue growth.\n\n**Market Opportunity Size:**\n\nThe global power semiconductor market is valued in tens of billions of dollars and is projected to grow significantly, driven by megatrends such as electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy, industrial automation, 5G infrastructure, and data centers. High-voltage integrated circuits are a foundational component in these sectors. This patent targets a crucial segment within this market – integrated power management ICs – which benefits directly from the ability to combine high-voltage power stages with low-voltage control logic on a single chip. The demand for compact, efficient, and robust power solutions is insatiable, making the market potential for this technology immense.\n\n**Competitive Advantages:**\n\nThis invention provides several compelling competitive advantages:\n\n1.  **Superior Performance-to-Area Ratio:** By effectively managing electric fields through a dual-field plate structure, the device achieves higher breakdown voltages within a smaller silicon footprint. This allows manufacturers to design more compact and powerful ICs, a key differentiator in space-constrained applications.\n2.  **Enhanced Reliability:** The mitigation of electric field crowding reduces stress on the device, leading to improved long-term reliability and a wider safe operating area. This is crucial for mission-critical applications where device failure can have severe consequences.\n3.  **Cost-Effective Integration:** The lateral design is inherently compatible with existing CMOS fabrication processes, enabling monolithic integration of high-voltage and low-voltage components. This reduces manufacturing complexity and costs compared to multi-chip solutions or specialized HV processes.\n4.  **Faster Time-to-Market:** Simplified integration and improved performance mean faster design cycles and quicker deployment of new products leveraging this technology.\n\n**Revenue Potential and Business Models:**\n\nCompanies adopting this technology can unlock new revenue streams through:\n\n*   **Licensing:** Semiconductor IP companies can license this patent to fabless or IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) companies.\n*   **Product Differentiation:** IDMs can develop and sell differentiated power management ICs, motor drivers, and power converters with superior performance, commanding premium pricing.\n*   **System-on-Chip (SoC) Solutions:** The ability to integrate more functionality on a single chip enables the creation of highly integrated SoCs for specific applications, reducing system-level costs for customers.\n*   **Market Expansion:** Entering new markets that previously had stringent size, efficiency, or voltage requirements that prior art couldn't meet.\n\n**Strategic Positioning:**\n\nImplementing this patent allows companies to strategically position themselves as leaders in high-performance integrated power solutions. It shifts the competitive landscape by raising the bar for power density and reliability. Companies can target high-growth segments like EV power electronics, where robust and compact solutions are critical, or industrial IoT, where reliable power delivery to edge devices is paramount. This technology enables a move away from discrete components towards highly integrated, 'smart' power solutions.\n\n**ROI Projections:**\n\nThe return on investment (ROI) for adopting this patent's technology can be substantial. Reduced chip area translates directly to lower silicon costs per device and higher wafer utilization. Enhanced reliability reduces warranty claims and customer support costs. Faster integration streamlines R&D, leading to quicker market entry and revenue generation. For a company investing in this technology, the ROI would be realized through increased market share, premium pricing for superior products, and operational efficiencies across the product lifecycle. For example, a 10-20% reduction in chip area for high-volume power ICs could yield millions in savings annually, while improved reliability could cut warranty costs by similar margins, leading to a strong business case for its implementation.","faqs":[{"answer":"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates is a patent (US-9852993) describing an innovative semiconductor device designed for handling high electrical voltages. At its core, this invention is a high-voltage integrated circuit (HV IC) that features a unique architecture to improve its ability to withstand high voltages without breaking down.\n\nThe device includes essential components like a source region and a drain region, separated by a drift region and a channel region, all within a semiconductor layer. What sets this patent apart is the strategic integration of two types of field plates: a trench insulation field plate embedded within the drift region, and a metal field plate precisely placed over a recessed area within that trench insulation field plate. This dual-field plate system is key to its enhanced performance.\n\nThis technology is particularly significant because it allows for the creation of more compact, reliable, and efficient power electronics. It addresses the fundamental challenge of managing intense electric fields within a small chip footprint, making it a crucial advancement for modern electronic systems that require both high power and miniaturization. The patent focuses on a lateral device structure, which is highly compatible with existing manufacturing processes for integrated circuits.\n\nKeywords: high voltage integrated devices, semiconductor innovation, trench insulation field plate, metal field plate, power electronics, US-9852993.","question":"What is Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates?"},{"answer":"The core mechanism of how Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates works revolves around its sophisticated electric field management. In high-voltage devices, intense electrical pressure (electric fields) tends to concentrate at specific points, leading to premature breakdown. This invention employs a two-pronged approach to prevent this.\n\nFirstly, a **trench insulation field plate** is embedded within the drift region of the semiconductor. This trench, typically filled with a conductive material and isolated by a dielectric, extends the depletion region deeper into the bulk of the semiconductor. This action effectively spreads the electric field over a larger volume, reducing the peak electric field strength internally and significantly enhancing the device's bulk breakdown voltage.\n\nSecondly, a **metal field plate** is placed over the trench insulation field plate, specifically filling a recessed region within it. This metal field plate plays a crucial role in shaping the electric field at the semiconductor surface. By carefully controlling the equipotential lines at the surface, it prevents surface electric field crowding, which is another common cause of device failure. The precise placement in the recess allows for optimal interaction between the two field plates.\n\nTogether, these two field plates synergistically distribute the high electric field more uniformly across the entire drift region, both in the bulk and at the surface. This ingenious design allows the device to withstand significantly higher voltages without increasing its physical size, leading to more robust and efficient power integrated circuits.\n\nKeywords: electric field management, trench insulation field plate, metal field plate, breakdown voltage, semiconductor operation, drift region, device architecture.","question":"How does Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates work?"},{"answer":"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates solves the critical problem of integrating high-voltage (HV) capabilities into compact, reliable semiconductor devices without compromising performance or increasing manufacturing complexity. Historically, there has been a fundamental trade-off in HV integrated circuits: to handle higher voltages, designers often had to increase the physical size of the components to spread out the intense electric fields. This directly conflicted with the industry's push for miniaturization and high integration density.\n\nPrior art solutions often struggled with electric field crowding, where electrical stress concentrates at specific points, leading to premature device failure or requiring extensive silicon area. These limitations hindered the development of truly efficient and compact power management integrated circuits that could seamlessly coexist with low-voltage control logic on a single chip. This resulted in larger, less efficient, and sometimes less reliable electronic systems.\n\nThis patent addresses these challenges by providing a method to effectively manage and distribute electric fields within the device. By preventing electric field crowding, it allows for higher breakdown voltages within a smaller footprint, enabling greater integration density and improved reliability. This breakthrough means that powerful electronic systems can be made smaller, more efficient, and more robust, overcoming a long-standing barrier in power electronics design.\n\nKeywords: high voltage integration, power density, electric field crowding, semiconductor challenges, miniaturization, device reliability, integrated circuits.","question":"What problem does Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates solve?"},{"answer":"The patent data provided indicates that the assignee and inventors for Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates (US-9852993) were not specified in the abstract. Typically, patent documents list the inventors and the assignee (the company or entity that owns the patent).\n\nHowever, the innovation itself, regardless of specific names not listed in this particular abstract, represents the ingenuity of semiconductor engineers and researchers who are dedicated to advancing the field of power electronics. These individuals or teams work tirelessly to overcome complex physics and engineering challenges to create the foundational technologies that power our modern world.\n\nIn the broader context of patent filings, inventors are the individuals who conceived the invention, while the assignee is usually the corporation or institution for whom the inventors work and to whom the patent rights are assigned. The absence of specific names in the provided abstract does not diminish the technical merit or impact of Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates.\n\nKeywords: patent inventors, assignee, semiconductor engineers, power electronics research, invention origin, patent ownership, US-9852993.","question":"Who invented Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates?"},{"answer":"The Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates patent offers several significant benefits that impact both device performance and system-level applications.\n\nFirstly, a primary benefit is **significantly enhanced breakdown voltage**. By effectively managing electric fields both within the bulk of the semiconductor and at its surface, the device can withstand much higher electrical pressures without failing. This is crucial for robust operation in high-power applications.\n\nSecondly, the innovation leads to **smaller device footprints and higher power density**. The ability to achieve high breakdown voltage in a more controlled manner means that the physical size of the high-voltage sections on a chip can be reduced. This allows for more compact integrated circuits, which is vital for miniaturization in modern electronics.\n\nThirdly, it provides **improved reliability and efficiency**. Reduced electric field crowding minimizes stress on the device, leading to a longer operational lifespan and a wider safe operating area. Furthermore, a more efficient design often translates to less energy wasted as heat, improving overall system efficiency.\n\nFinally, this technology facilitates **seamless monolithic integration**. Its lateral structure is highly compatible with standard CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) manufacturing processes, enabling high-voltage power components to be integrated onto the same silicon die as low-voltage control logic. This simplifies system design, reduces parasitic effects, and lowers manufacturing costs, accelerating time-to-market for new products.\n\nKeywords: breakdown voltage, power density, device reliability, monolithic integration, CMOS compatibility, power efficiency, semiconductor benefits.","question":"What are the key benefits of Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates?"},{"answer":"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates significantly differentiates itself from prior art by employing a unique and synergistic dual-field plate architecture. Traditional methods for enhancing breakdown voltage (BV) in lateral high-voltage devices often relied on single field plates, field rings, or simply increasing the length of the drift region.\n\nPrior art single field plates or field rings typically addressed either the surface electric field crowding or offered limited control over the bulk electric field. Increasing the drift region length, while effective for BV, directly led to larger chip areas and higher on-resistance, creating undesirable trade-offs. These approaches often provided incomplete electric field termination, leaving devices susceptible to breakdown under high stress.\n\nThis patent's innovation lies in the combined action of a **trench insulation field plate (TIFP)** embedded in the drift region and a **metal field plate (MFP)** strategically placed in a recess over the TIFP. The TIFP manages the electric field deep within the semiconductor's bulk, while the MFP controls the electric field at the surface. This comprehensive, two-tiered approach ensures a more uniform distribution of electric fields throughout the entire high-voltage region.\n\nThis integrated solution provides superior BV enhancement, reduced footprint, and improved reliability compared to prior art, without introducing significant manufacturing complexities that would hinder CMOS compatibility. It represents a more complete and efficient solution to the long-standing problem of high-voltage integration.\n\nKeywords: prior art comparison, dual field plate, trench insulation, metal field plate, breakdown voltage, electric field management, semiconductor differentiation, HV device innovation.","question":"How is Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates different from prior art?"},{"answer":"The Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates patent is poised to impact a wide array of industries that rely heavily on efficient, compact, and reliable power electronics. Its ability to enable higher voltage handling in smaller footprints makes it a foundational technology for future innovations.\n\n**Electric Vehicles (EVs):** This technology can lead to smaller, lighter, and more efficient power converters for EV powertrains, extending battery range, improving charging times, and reducing overall vehicle weight. It's critical for the performance and widespread adoption of electric mobility.\n\n**Industrial Automation and Robotics:** Robust and compact power interfaces are essential for industrial control systems, motors, and robotic arms. This innovation allows for more reliable and integrated motor drivers and power supplies, enhancing the intelligence and durability of factory automation.\n\n**Renewable Energy:** Inverters for solar panels, wind turbines, and energy storage systems require high-voltage capabilities. This technology can contribute to more efficient power conversion and compact system designs, accelerating the transition to sustainable energy.\n\n**Consumer Electronics:** Devices like smartphones, laptops, and smart home appliances will benefit from smaller, faster, and cooler power adapters, display drivers, and power management units, leading to improved user experience and device longevity.\n\n**Data Centers and Cloud Infrastructure:** High-efficiency power supplies are crucial for reducing the massive energy consumption and operational costs of data centers. This patent can enable more compact and efficient power management for servers and networking equipment.\n\nKeywords: industry impact, electric vehicles, industrial automation, renewable energy, consumer electronics, data centers, power management applications, semiconductor market.","question":"What industries will Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates impact?"},{"answer":"The patent, Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates (US-9852993), was filed on **February 5, 2016**. The publication date, which is typically when the patent application is made publicly available or when the patent is granted, was **December 26, 2017**.\n\nThese dates are significant in the patent lifecycle. The filing date establishes the priority date of the invention, meaning it marks when the inventor first submitted the application to the patent office. This date is crucial for determining novelty and non-obviousness against prior art. The publication date, on the other hand, indicates when the patent details become publicly accessible, allowing others to review the innovation.\n\nFor Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates, the relatively quick progression from filing to publication (less than two years) suggests that the invention was likely deemed to be a significant and novel contribution to the field of power electronics. These dates provide a timeline for when this important technology was officially introduced to the public and secured its intellectual property protection.\n\nKeywords: patent filing date, patent publication date, US-9852993, intellectual property, patent lifecycle, semiconductor patent history, invention timeline.","question":"When was Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates filed/granted?"},{"answer":"The commercial applications of Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates are extensive and span across various high-growth sectors due to its ability to deliver high-voltage performance in a compact, reliable, and integrated manner.\n\nIn **automotive electronics**, particularly for electric vehicles (EVs), this technology can be used in onboard chargers, DC-DC converters, motor drivers, and battery management systems. Its enhanced efficiency and smaller footprint contribute directly to extended range, faster charging, and lighter vehicle designs.\n\nFor **industrial power and control**, applications include power supplies for robotics, motor control for factory automation, LED lighting drivers for industrial use, and power interfaces for industrial IoT devices. The improved reliability and integration capabilities are critical for harsh industrial environments.\n\nIn **consumer electronics**, this patent enables the development of more compact and efficient fast chargers for smartphones and laptops, display drivers for high-resolution screens (e.g., TVs, monitors), and integrated power management units for various portable devices, leading to better user experience and device longevity.\n\nFurthermore, in **renewable energy systems**, such as solar inverters and grid-tied energy storage, the technology can lead to more efficient power conversion and more compact inverter designs. For **data centers**, it can contribute to higher power density and efficiency in server power supplies and voltage regulators, helping to reduce operational costs and energy consumption.\n\nKeywords: commercial applications, power management ICs, electric vehicles, industrial control, consumer electronics, renewable energy, data centers, semiconductor market.","question":"What are the commercial applications of Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates?"},{"answer":"The Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates patent lays a robust foundation for exciting future developments in power electronics. Its core principles of electric field management can be extended and optimized in several directions.\n\nOne key area of future development is **further miniaturization and integration**. As fabrication processes advance, the precise control offered by the dual-field plate structure could enable even higher power densities and more complex functionality on a single chip, potentially integrating advanced sensing or communication capabilities directly into the power stage.\n\nAnother promising avenue is **adaptation to wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors**. While the patent likely describes silicon-based devices, the concepts of trench insulation and metal field plates are highly transferable to materials like Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). Integrating this field plate technology with WBG materials could unlock devices with even higher breakdown voltages, lower on-resistance, and superior performance at elevated temperatures and switching frequencies.\n\nExpect also to see **advanced gate architectures and materials** for the gate insulation layer, potentially incorporating high-k dielectrics to reduce leakage and improve gate control. Research may also focus on **dynamic biasing of the metal field plate** to optimize electric field distribution in real-time under varying load conditions, further enhancing efficiency and reliability. The inherent CMOS compatibility will continue to drive the development of highly intelligent 'smart power' integrated circuits, combining complex digital control with robust analog power delivery on an unprecedented scale.\n\nKeywords: future developments, wide-bandgap semiconductors, SiC, GaN, miniaturization, advanced gate architectures, smart power ICs, power electronics roadmap.","question":"What are the future developments expected for Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates?"}],"topics":["lateral high voltage devices","trench insulation field plate","metal field plate","power electronics","semiconductor patent","technical","understanding","lateral"],"tech_cluster":null},"seo":{"title":"Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices - Patent US-9852993","description":"Discover Lateral High Voltage Integrated Devices Having Trench Insulation Field Plates and Metal Field Plates. This patent enhances breakdown voltage for compact, reliable power electronics.","keywords":["lateral high voltage devices","trench insulation field plate","metal field plate","power electronics","semiconductor patent","integrated devices","breakdown voltage","HV ICs","power management","US-9852993","semiconductor technology","electric field management","CMOS integration","power IC design"]},"attribution":{"source":"Patentable","source_url":"https://patentable.app","canonical_url":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852993","license":"CC-BY-4.0-like","license_terms":"AI-generated analysis on this page (summary, layman_explanation, technical_analysis, business_analysis, faqs) may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL above. Patent abstracts, claims, and bibliographic data are USPTO public domain.","required_link":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852993","citation_suggestion":"Patentable. \"Lateral high voltage integrated devices having trench insulation field plates and metal field plates\" (US-9852993). https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852993","copyright_holder":"Nomic Interactive Technology LLC"},"links":{"html":"https://patentable.app/patents/US-9852993","json":"https://patentable.app/api/llm-context/US-9852993","site":"https://patentable.app","llms_txt":"https://patentable.app/llms.txt"},"generated_at":"2026-06-06T03:49:58.278Z"}